Key-board attachment for pianos and organs



( Modl.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J; H. RHEEM.

KEY BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS AND ORGANS. No. 360,051. Patented mp2s, 1887 (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. H. RHEEM.

KEY BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS AND ORGANS. No. 360,051 atent d Mar. 29, 1887.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS.

WITNESSES: i fi Nv PEYERS. PhomLixnn n nev. Wnshingion, D10.

30 with the sliding cover removed.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. RHEEM, OF OTTUIWHVA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO HIMSELF, REUBEN S. FIELD, OF SAME PLACE, AND WVILLIAM H. LEI-IMAN,

or DES MOINES, IOWA.

KEY-BOARD ATTACHMENT FOR PIANOS AND ORGANS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 360,051, dat d March 29. 1887.

set-mi in). 202,317 (No model.)

To rrZl whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN H. RHEEM, of ttumwa, in the county of Wapello and the State of Iowa, have invented a new and Improved Key-Board Attachment forPianos and Organs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide a new and improved key-board attachment for pianos and organs, by which the performer is enabled to play any common chordin any key by pressing on two levers.

The invention consists of a box supported over the key-board and provided with a device for operating five keys of the key-board of the piano by pressing on two levers at a time, which levers project from the top of the Box, and of a device for indicating different 'eys.

The invention also consists of various parts and details and combinations of the same, as will be fully described hereinafter, and then pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a partof this specification,

in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a front perspective view of my attachment. Fig. 2 is a plan View of the sanie Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section of the attachment placed on the key-board of a piano or organ; and Fig.

4. is a perspective view of a lever and its arms. The key-board attachment consists of a box,

A, provided with acover, B,which carries the device'for operating the keys of the piano or organ, the box being supported between the sides of the piano or organ over the keys of the same. In the bottom of the box A are 0 placed alongside each other a number of plungers, 0, each hinged at one end, their other ends resting on a projecting flange, A, of the box A, and each of the plungers 0 being provided with a downwardly-projecting pin, 0.

5 The lower ends of the pins 0 rest on the keys of the piano or organ when the attachment is in its place, as shown in Fig. 3, and the pins 0 are of two difierent lengths, so as to correspond with both the white and black keys 0f the piano or organ. The plunger-s O slide up and down in the box A between the guidewires 0 The lid or cover B of the box A is adapted to slide on the same, and can be held in place by the locking-spring D, attached to astaple, D, sceuredito one outer side of the box A and engaging one of the notches E in the front edge of the cover 13. These notches E indicate the key in which the piece is to be performed.

To the under side of the lid or cover B are pivoted two sets of keys, F and F, each set consisting of five levers, G. The set F operates the bassnotes, and the set F operates the treble-notes on the piano or organ. Each of the levers G in the set F has one pivotal shaft, G,which extends longitudinally on the under side of the lid B, and to this shaft G are attached two downwardly-extending arms,

G the front end of each of which rests on one of the plungers G, and an upwardly-extending 7o arm, G, is secured on the shaft Jr, passes upward through the slot 13 in the lid or cover 13, and is provided with a button, G, on its outer end on which is marked a numeral. The buttons G on the levers G are marked with the five successive numerals 1 to 5. The levers of the set F are similar in construction to the levers G of the set F, the only difference being that the longitudinal pivotal shafts G are each provided with three downwardly-ex- 0 tending arms, G", instead of two arms, as in the set F. The buttons in this set F are also marked with the successive numerals 1 to 5.

On top of the lid or cover B is pivoted the locking-bar H, having the bent parts H and H which engage with the under sides of the arms G of the respective sets of levers F and F, and the locking-bar H is also provided with a central bend or handle, H which stands at right angles to the parts H and H.

A strip, J, is fastened to each end of the box A at the bottom, and between the strip and the box are placed washers K, so as to increase or diminish the distance between the strip and the bottom of the box. A short distance from 95 each strip J, toward the center of the box, is placed a stop bar or plate, L, which rests on the inside of the pin-block of the piano or organ when the attachment is placed on the piano, the strip J resting on the pin-block, as shown in Fig. 3. A guard, M, prevents the lid or cover B from being lifted off. The attachment or box A is placed on the piano or organ,with its strips Jresting on the pin-block and the bars L holding it in place on the same. WVhen the box A is thus placed on the piano, the 'plungers O are raised by their pins 0 coming in contact with the keys of the piano or organ, and this raising of the plungers lifts the levers G upward, as shown in Fig. 3.

The sets of levers F and F are so arranged that when two buttons having corresponding numerals are pressed downward at the same time they act on five plungers which press on five keys of the piano at the same time, and thus produce a common chord in the key to which the attachment is set.

It will be seen that common chords of three notes can be played by pressing 011 the re spective buttons.

The attachment can be changed from one key to another by first throwing the handle H ofthe locking-bar H downward, so that the arms G are raised by the bent parts H and H of the lockingbar H. The arms G are thus lifted oif ofthe plungers O, and the spring D is now pressed out of the respective groove E in the cover B, and the latter is moved forward or backward until the desired key, as marked in the respective notch E in the lid, is in line with the staple and permits of the in sertion of the spring D. The spring D thus holds the cover B in place on the box and at the same time indicates the key to be played. The movement of the cover B causes the arms 1 to move upon the plungers, which, when depressed, actuate the keys of the piano or organ corresponding to the chords of the key to which the lid is set.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. In a keyboard attachment, a box provided with pivoted plungers, in combination with the sliding lid and two sets of levers pivoted thereto, substantially as shown and described.

2. In a keyboard attachment, a box supported above the keys of a piano or organ, plungers pivoted in the bottom of the box, and pins attached to the under sides of the plungers and resting on the keys of the piano or organ, in combination with a sliding lid and two sets of levers pivoted thereto and operating on the plungers in the box, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a key-board attachment, a box supported above the keys of the piano or organ, plungers pivoted to the said box, and pins attached to the said plungers, in combination with a cover or lid, two sets of levers pivoted to the said lid and operating on the plungers, and a device for locking the cover in place,

and indicating at the same time the different keys in which the piece'to be played is written, substantially as shown and described.

4. In a key-board attachment, the box A, the plungers G, )ivoted in the bottom of the said box, the pins 0, attached to the said plungers, and guidebars O, in combination with the pivoted levers G, each consisting of the pivotal shaft G, the downwardly-extending arms G and the upwardly-extending arm G, provided on its outer end with a button, G", substantially as shown and described.

5. In a key-board attachment, the box A and the pivoted plungcrs O, in combination with the cover 13, the sets of levers F and F, pivoted to the said cover, and the spring D, attached to the staple D in the box A. and the notches E in the cover, substantially as shown and described.

6. In a key-board attachment, the box A, the plungers 0, provided with the pins 0, the lid B, and the sets of levers F and F, in combination with the strips J, the washers K, and the plates L, substantially as shown and described.

7. In a key-board attachment, the cover 13 and the sets of levers F and F, in combination with the locking-bar H, provided with the bent parts H and H, and the handle II, substantially as shown and described.

JOHN H. RH EEM.

Witnesses:

. J OSEPH La FOLLET'IE,

Jos. W. VANSANT. 

